Suzie goes to her art class on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons. She always looks forward to those days when she can do creative things all afternoon. She loves making bowls and cups out of clay(粘土).

    Last month she learned to put pottery(陶器) into a hot oven（炉子）, called a kiln, to make it hard and strong. What Suzie likes best about art is the good feeling she gets when she has finished working on a piece of art. And then when she takes it home to show her parents she feels so proud of what she has made.

    On Wednesday Suzie wrote an article about why she thought the school should have two short breaks a day rather than one long break. Lots of her friends thought that this would be a good idea too. Many teachers also agreed with Suzie's suggestion.

    The head teacher of the school asked everyone in the school to vote(表决)on Suzie's suggestion. During the vote, each person in the school had one vote. Together, the school decided that two short breaks would be better than one long break. All of this happened because Suzie wrote about her idea in the school newspaper.

    On the day the newspaper comes out, the first thing Suzie does is to check where her article is in the newspaper. And each month, at the beginning of her article, are the words: By Suzanne Jefferson.

    On the way home from school yesterday, Suzie got to think about how much art and writing are the same. In art class she thinks of creative things to make, and then spends a lot of time making it look just right.

    And when she writes articles for the school newspaper, she thinks of creative things to say, and then spends a lot of time making it sound just right. And when she has finished writing a really good sentence, she feels almost as if she has made a beautiful piece of art.

    Suzie rushed home so she could write something shortly before dinner. She already had lots of ideas for next month's newspaper. And she wanted to make sure that none of her creative ideas floated away before she wrote them down on paper

I have invented robots which improve the work of cars. My love of making things began when I was a kid. I really became 1 about inventing after I learned about Thomas Edison.

In Grade Four, we 2 a project by our teacher in class. We had to write to a company and learn about the products. I chose the Thomas A. Edison Company. Soon after,3 company sent me a book about the life of Thomas Edison. 4 excited I was!I enjoyed reading and re- reading about his inventions. I like the recorded sound and the electric light best.

My dad 5 my interest in inventing and encouraged me. He showed me 6 I could turn my ideas into plans and then into new things. Once, I surprised 7 witha model plane I made. Later, we found a similar model plane 8 a store. I learned that different 9 often invent similar things. I also learned that not all great ideas work. Failure is a common part of the inventing.

My dad is always looking for a better way 10 a simple job. His guiding hands, together with my interest in inventing has led me to become an engineer and inventor. Of course, I also thank Thomas Edison. He is my hero.

We were going to play against a team from a country school. 

{#blank#}1{#/blank#} the match almost began, they came. They looked {#blank#}2{#/blank#}(bad) than we thought. They were wearing dirty T-shirts and blue jeans and looked {#blank#}3{#/blank#} farm boys. We thought they never saw {#blank#}4{#/blank#} basketball before. We even felt that we {#blank#}5{#/blank#}(need) any practice to play against such a team. It was already so late {#blank#}6{#/blank#} no time could be given to them for a warm-up. The match began. One of our {#blank#}7{#/blank#}(boy) got the ball. And he tried {#blank#}8{#/blank#}(give) it to our forward. But from out of nowhere a boy in a dirty T-shirt caught the ball and he{#blank#}9{#/blank#}(quick) and beautifully shot and got two points. To our surprise, they got another two points in a minute. Soon it was all over. The country team {#blank#}10{#/blank#}(win) the match. Of course we knew that there was still another team better than any good team. 

But the most important lesson we learned this time was: One can't tell a man or a team by the appearance. 

I often felt shy in front of a group of people. So I didn't like speaking in front of others. And my first day at the new school made my classmate laugh. 

My teacher asked me1 my name on the blackboard. Of course, I knew my name and knew how to write it. But standing at the blackboard with the eyes of so many classmates on my back made2 nervous. I forgot all the things but those eyes. I wanted to cry. I didn't know what to do. I could not write a word. 

"Just forget us and write your name, " the teacher said3 and walked to my side, "What is your name?" 

I was too4 to answer. 

"Richard, " all the students answered5 me. Then they laughed loudly. 6 sad I was! 

After class, the teacher told me to go to her office. She told me that people might feel nervous7 they speak in front of many people. Then I8 that there was nothing. I just needed to do it as often as possible. 

Since then, I have become brave. I have tried my best to take part in some speech competitions. I used to think if I could not go on, life is nothing but an awful song. But now I know the9 of courage(勇气). I believe that I would be10 confident student. 

 Dancing is popular all over the world. People usually dance in theaters and parks. But Yang Liu,a woman in Guizhou, dances in an unusual place. Her stage is a single bamboo pole.

 Yang is a performer of bamboo drifting(独竹漂). It is a traditional skill in the girl's hometown. In the past, the local people crossed the rivers by riding on a bamboo pole. Now, bamboo drifting has developed into a folk(传统民间的) sport.

 Yang started to learn bamboo drifting at the age of seven. The bamboo pole is very slippery(滑的) and it never completely stops moving. Yang fell into the water again and again. But the girl didn't want to give up. She always got back up on the pole and tried again. She practiced hard every day for three years. Finally, she was able to keep her balance on the pole.

 But Yang didn't just stop there. She wanted to become a dancer on a bamboo pole. The girl practiced many difficult movements on the pole. She failed countless times, but she never stopped trying. Her hard work finally paid off. Now Yang, 24, has made a name for herself as a dancer on a bamboo pole. People can't believe their eyes whenever they watch her performances. Through Yang's dancing, many people now know more about bamboo drifting. They have discovered the beauty of this traditional skill.